Anna Christie takes you under

Cape Rep Theater’s Anna Christie is a gorgeous, powerful show that will catch you in an undertow of sorrow and humor, violence and hope, then release you to the shore of redemption.

Bethany Gibbons

BOB TUCKER/FOCALPOINT STUDIO PHOTO

LONG TIME AT SEA – Anna (Ashley Potts) reunites with her father (Daniel Fontneau) in Anna Christie.

Cape Rep’s O’Neill is spellbinding

Cape Rep Theater’s Anna Christie is a gorgeous, powerful show that will catch you in an undertow of sorrow and humor, violence and hope, then release you to the shore of redemption. This breathtaking portrayal of O’Neill’s 1922 Pulitzer Prize-winning play is not to be missed.

It may seem an inherent contradiction to call this production beautiful, as the subject matter is decidedly gritty, but director Maura Hanlon delivers the play wrapped in earnest intensity; simple, seamless and stunning design; and a thoughtful tenderness that graces each turbulent scene.

O’Neill places his characters in one dreary, unforgiving environment after the next – from a tough saloon in New York, to the dark and stormy Provincetown wharf, to a dock in Boston. Here he brings the characters’ hard stories to life. The barge captain and life-long sailor Chris Christopherson, played with a perfect blend of sweetness, foolishness, and hard-headedness by Daniel Fontneau, has made it to a mature age avoiding family by shipping out on voyages time and again, only to become deeply paranoid of the power of the sea to undo him and everyone who heeds its siren’s song. He eagerly awaits his long-denied daughter’s arrival from Minnesota, where she was sent to be raised by family after her mother’s death.

Anna Christie takes him by surprise as an unrefined woman without subtlety, far from the corn-fed farm girl and nurse he expected. For most of the play he has no idea just how far-off his estimation was, as she has found employment as a whore after a short childhood of hard farm labor and abuse. She is drawn to reunite with her father in hopes that he will put her up for a while to rest after illness, not knowing the truth of his employment as captain of a coal barge. Still, she finds the possibility of salvation in the restorative power of the ocean, and becomes transfixed by the feeling of cleanliness the sea provides her. Ashley Potts brings a mix of fire and water to her role, easily transitioning from shame and sorrow to yearning and assertion.

Shipwrecked Mat Burke, played robustly by the appropriately brawny and unapologetically passionate Brough Hansen, is hauled onto the coal barge deck in Provincetown, and courts Anna despite being pummeled by the sea. His fortitude allows him to conclude if he can wrestle down an angry ocean, he can surely win Anna for his bride. Just as the sea cannot be out-muscled, Anna’s secret will prove to nearly destroy him.

In the case of Miss Christie, O’Neill proffers a serious question for our consideration. As she accepts that her life has been ruined by her choices, she acknowledges that her father and newly-discovered beloved have heartily enjoyed the services of women like herself. “Why am I any worse than you?” she wonders. There is a tug-of-war within her as she bows to social mores on one hand, but boldly fights for the justice she feels her heart deserves – a new start, why not?

Every moment in this show is a feast for the senses. The perfectly choreographed, fluid movement on stage and impassioned acting plays out on a sepia-toned set of ropes and whiskey barrels with the ribs of a ship embracing the set. Ryan McGettigan’s set design is both beautiful and functional. At one point the barkeep packs up the saloon, setting chairs and bottles and barrels on the bar, which slides off into the wings, leaving the deck of the barge behind. A lit lantern lowers down, and an exquisite tableau is revealed as fog rolls across the ship’s deck and Anna stands in her nightgown looking out at the sea.

In this intimate, open environment the lines dissolve between the stage and the seats. In all this fog, we are no longer certain – are we on the barge? This is the power of small theaters, to bring characters, stories and the emotions they arouse so close they can’t be denied. This influence can be heavy-handed and assaulting or incredibly moving, and Hanlon and crew perform the delicate work to accomplish the latter.

Cape Repertory Theater’s Anna Christie by Eugene O’Neill, directed by Maura Hanlon, is at 3299 Main St. in Brewster through June 2, Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 p.m. and May 29 at 7 p.m. For tickets ($25), call 508-896-1888 or go to www.caperep.org